Hiring babysitter for visit to grandparents' home

[Anonymous]

I'm considering hiring a babysitter to occasionally watch almost 2 yo DD while she and I stay with my parents for a couple weeks this spring. I'm pretty sure my parents will be fine with me hiring a sitter; they both have busy lives and while they're happy to spend time with us, it's not like they have oodles of free time to babysit. I am going to ask my mom to ask around her church and see if one of her friends or friend's friend has a daughter or niece who would like to babysit. What kind of vetting would you do on a sitter hired under these circumstances and in this situation? Aside from checking references? My greatest concern is that this sitter will need to drive DD to get to the park, playground, etc. and that makes me a little nervous. We live in a walking area and DD has only ever walked anywhere with her sitters. What if anything should I do to ensure she is a safe driver?

[Anonymous]

Check her driving record.

[Anonymous]

Or just let her walk with DD in strange city - no need to drive it is occasional - just for you all to go to dinner or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Post to facebook if you have friends in that city to ask about babysitters or agencies for hiring one. That has worked for me!

[Anonymous]

Your babysitter doesn't have to do any driving at all OP.

It's only for a few weeks plus it sounds like you live in a walkable neighborhood.
I mean your parents.

I am sure everything will be fine.

[Anonymous]

If the sitter has to drive your child make sure you hire a mature sitter - I mean a woman in her 40s or older. And definitely check her driving record.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I didn't know that I could check other people's driving records, this is good to know. And just to clarify, I meant that where DH, DD and I live is walkable so our sitters haven't ever needed to drive, but you have to drive where my parents live if you want to get out of the house. First, there are no sidewalks and at present, my parents have no yard space as it is all dug up. I could have the sitter just watch DD at my parents' home, but as they recently moved and have very little furniture, I find it's not very comfortable to hang out there and feel bad asking a sitter to do so. I guess if it's just a couple times, it's not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

My suggestion for the fb post is that you will get recommendations of people that people you know have already vetted; you might be able to find someone who drives that way without needing to run an expensive report.

[Anonymous]

You cannot take care of your child while visiting your mother?